Indian Air force has set up eight radars as a precautionary measure to monitor the skies in the aftermath of Tamil tiger rebels launching their first aerial strike in Sri Lanka two days ago.
The radars were fixed at Seeniappa Darga Casurina jungle near Sundaramudaiyan village in Ramanathapuram district and trials were being held, a senior IAF official told PTI on Wednesday.
A team of 50 Air force personnel, under a commander, would be posted there to monitor the skies, he said. There was also a plan to set up a permanent Air-base near Seeniappa Dargah, the official, who wished not to be named, said.
The decision to set up radars comes two days after LTTE carried out an aerial attack at a military airbase in Colombo, killing three persons and injuring 16. Sri Lankan president Mahindra Rajapakse had warned that LTTE's air strike capability was a threat to the entire South Asian region, particularly India and Indonesia.
Meanwhile, the Indian navy has begun round-the-clock patrolling of the seas from the Forward Observation Point (FOP) near Dhanushkodi since Tuesday. Twelve marine commandos have been posted at FOP, to which communication links have been established.
The coast guard would also patrol the international maritime border in the Palk Straits, official sources said. Besides these measures, policemen manning the check-posts had been asked to inspect every vehicle passing through coastal roads, they said.
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